U20s mobbed at airport in Singapore
They may not be household names yet, but that doesn't mean their arrival in Singapore hasn't been met by excitement.
On Wednesday more than 50 Liverpool supporters took time off work to provide a welcoming party for the LFC U20 squad who had just flown into Singapore to begin preparing for their involvement in the inaugural NexLions Cup - a four-team tournament that will see them play a Singapore select XI on Friday before playing either Manchester United or Sporting Lisbon on Sunday.
For Henry Han, vice president of the Official Liverpool Fan Club in Singapore, it was a dream day.
"Over 50 fans turned up and made the boys feel very welcome in Singapore," Han told Liverpoolfc.com. "For a lot of these very young players, this is probably their first time in Singapore and we wanted to show them just how much us Singaporeans love Liverpool.
"I think we certainly did that and I think we demonstrated to the young Manchester United players, who arrived on the same flight, that Liverpool's following over here is the most committed of any team in the Premier League.
"It means a lot to the fans because we are seeing the next generation of Liverpool players on this trip. Some of these guys have already played for the first team and I've no doubt that some of the others on this trip will be regulars in the future.
"There were three groups there to meet the players. We had members of the Official Liverpool Fan Club, we had East of Anfield, and Anfield Warriors were there as well. We are three different groups because we cater for three different sets of fans but while Liverpool are in town, there's not really three groups at all - just one set of fans with a shared love of Liverpool FC. We are all one big family."
There may be no Daniel Agger, Steven Gerrard or Luis Suarez to grab the headlines on this trip, but the lack of big-name players didn't seem to concern the fans at all.
"A lot of the fans in Singapore can't afford to pay for a trip to go to Anfield to see the first team play but this NexLions Cup is an opportunity to see a real Liverpool team play in our own country and maybe one day we'll be able to say we saw Jerome Sinclair or Jordan Ibe before they were really famous," said Han.
"I've been lucky enough to experience the Anfield atmosphere but even I am extremely excited by this trip.
"I've actually got permission off my boss to take this afternoon off and also some more time this week because he knew I wasn't in the right mind to be at work as I was so excited. I actually came into work in my Liverpool gear this morning and he was like, 'Okay, fine, lunchtime, go, go. Just go!'"
Meanwhile, Liverpool supporters in Singapore had cause for a double celebration on Wednesday night after the national team capped a fantastic day by qualifying for the final of the 2012 Suzuki Cup.
Thousands of Liverpool fans - many with 'Gerrard 8' on the back of their shirts - packed into the Jalan Besar Stadium to see Singapore beat the Philippines 1-0 to book their place in the final against either Malaysia or Thailand, who contest their semi-final second leg on Wednesday evening.
To buy tickets for Liverpool's two matches in the NexLions Cup, simply click here>>
To see an exclusive photo album from the NexLions trip, click here to visit the LFC Facebook page>>